Anthemis Group Closes $230 Million SPAC to Transform the Financial Services Industry

Closing Bell Ceremony at Nasdaq — Photography courtesy of Nasdaq, Inc.

When we started to build Anthemis over a decade ago, our mission and thesis were ambitious. We set out to transform the financial system for the digital age by convening an ecosystem of incumbent players, entrepreneurs, market innovators and influencers. We committed early to deploy human & financial capital diversely, inclusively, and with a virtuous cycle outcome, which had never been seen, or done before. Looking back at everything that has happened in the world, we can all appreciate that our thesis, however prescient that it might have been at the time, is so incredibly relevant today.

With over 150 investments in fintech across the globe, Anthemis continues to be one of the most active fintech investors. We have built a diversified pipeline, worked with companies to scale them for greater growth, and connected them with a broad ecosystem of financial institutions and incumbents to maximize value. At Anthemis, diversity and inclusivity are part of our DNA and have informed our commitment to creating systemic, long-term change in the tech industry. That’s why we couldn’t be more excited to extend our later-stage investment business by sponsoring Anthemis Digital Acquisitions I Corp (“ADA I”), which is listed on NASDAQ under the symbol “ADALU.”

ADA I, named after the first computer programming pioneer, Ada Lovelace, brings an all-female management team and board to market, with a differentiated view on the digital fintech market. With a global composition and ESG ethos, the team comprises domain expertise, track record, deep networks, and a robust platform to partner with a progressive company within digital financial services and help them achieve their objectives for growth.

I am joined by a group of powerhouse women, CFO Mei Lim and COO Briana van Strijp who have decades of experience in the financial services industry. Collectively, we have investing, operating, and deal-making experience in all areas of our thesis. We are joined by Baroness Morrissey, DBE, Janice Savin Williams and Pamela Thomas-Graham on the board, who add considerable gravitas and experience in public company governance and leadership. I believe this team is the most gender, racially, geographically and experientially diverse team of professionals that the SPAC industry has seen to date, which is an absolute differentiator in the market. We are dedicated to providing ongoing resources to our target through the following:

• Broad platform to support future growth: We will provide significant operational and strategic support through a 50+ person Anthemis Group platform. Our support services include fundraising, talent management, recruiting, product design, sales and business development, organization and culture design, operations, investor relations, public relations, exit planning, and more. Our robust marketing function partners with companies on key strategic elements of a brand and business strategy to develop and execute growth objectives. Additionally, our extensive network within the financial services, fintech and investment ecosystem provides significant commercial and business development opportunities.
• Robust geographic coverage and experience across North America and Europe: Anthemis was an early entrant in the fintech market, driving the industry’s evolution with the profound ability to understand the market landscape from a global perspective. We have built a reputation for category-defining trends through our thesis of backing companies across the US and Europe who can build resilience in the financial system through technology.
• Extensive connectivity to an ecosystem of financial services and modern fintech participants: Our management team, the board of directors and strategic advisors have significant domain expertise and connectivity across key sub sectors of financial services, including retail banking and consumer finance, business and corporate banking, payments, wealth and asset management, insurance and risk management and capital markets and trading, as well as portfolio companies where finance is embedded into the infrastructure and in their core business model.
• Partnership orientation, public company experience, and deal execution: We believe in the power of partnership, and that our combined expertise & reputation will support a relationship that has the potential to result in strong financial returns and positive societal impact solving real world problems. We have extensive experience in deal execution and structuring, having invested in multiple transactions across more than 150 fintech companies.

Our team will leverage these strengths to work with digital financial services, or a modern fintech target across key sub sectors within ADA I’s core investment thesis. Additionally, the partner will align to our guiding principles: authentic collaboration, virtuous cycle outcomes, and a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. The ideal partner will have an ambitious leadership team with visionary goals, will be a high-growth, public market-ready and technology-driven company driving change in the financial system or embedding finance into other industries.

I couldn’t be more thrilled to work with this team to transform the industry. If you would like to learn more, please visit our website or contact us at
info@anthemisdigitalacquisitions.com.